Incredibly, the first complete run of the ETH Zürich Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Regenerative Systems is halfway through, and with the introduction of a Certificate in Advanced Studies in Systemic Design (CAS#3) and its inclusion in the ETH MAS represents a milestone for systemic design.
Tobias Luthe marks this landmark with discussants Peter Hayward Jones and Birger Sevaldson at RSD13-ONLINE with North Stars, building on the CAS in systemic design to frame a discussion about “expanding the direction for systemic design as a navigator of the relational value of scientific, engineering, design, embodied methods, and inner practices” and “navigating the relational practice of methods and building organic emergence.” [North Stars]
The session follows the opening plenary with Jenny and John Darzentas—a retrospective of 25 years in the genesis and running of the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering of the University of the Aegean, the evolution of the curriculum as flow, and the currents that have prevailed. Introduced by Systemic Design Association co-founder Birger Sevaldson and taken together, the 2.5-hour opening agenda covers the river of emergence of systemic design approaches, methods, and tools and the nature of multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary in systemic design. There’s also an opportunity to reckon with Harold Nelson’s 1994 proposal for un-discipline in design action and systems thinking because “designers engage in the task of creating the un-natural world by being un-disciplined using systems thinking and by being out-of-control as part of the creative process of design” [PIQ, 7 3] together with Tobias Luthe’s position that the emerging field or sphere of systemic design is not viewed as a discipline but as a post-discipline—”a hybrid combination of science, engineering, design, and embodied practices accompanied by inner processes.” [North Stars]
Certificate in systemic design
The current CAS in systemic design application period runs from August 1–31, 2024. Courses include a field design trip to Mallorca, Spain, at the end of October 2024.
The Designing Regenerative Resilient Systems (DRRS) team hosted an information evening on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, to introduce the ever-evolving DRRS programme leading to the MAS in Regenerative Systems. The session includes details of CAS#3. The session video and whiteboard are below and will be of interest to anyone interested in joining the globally relevant CAS#3 Systemic Design or the full MAS, Regenerative Systems. The first video offers key insights into the course structure questions, and the second video includes questions and discussions.
The CAS program consists of teaching and learning intensives, live discourse, extended content, practising methods, individual coaching, direct access to teachers and further leading experts in the field, curation of physical peer learning, and the field design trips as main learning element with direct, practical, real-world experiences. The CAS in Systemic Design features an eight-day field design trip to Mallorca, Spain, at the end of October 2024, co-hosted by Daniel Christian Wahl.
DRRS also offers a self-paced alternative in an innovative, cost-free MOOC series that focuses on creating a positive impact in complex systems. The online virtual program consists of pre-recorded content, is student-paced, and does not have live sessions, but it is backed up by the DRRS online community, which has rich dialogues and a help forum. The course is offered on the edX platform.
DRRS Team: Tobias Luthe, Daniel Christian Wahl, Sylwia Orczykowska and Michael Grimm
CAS #3 Systemic Design whiteboard